Ineos reported an upset with a demethanizer tower in the olefins unit 1

March 02/2011

(Bloomberg) -- Ineos Group Holdings
Plc reported an upset with a demethanizer tower in the olefins unit 1 at its
Chocolate Bayou chemical site in Alvin, Texas, according to a filing with state
regulators. Emissions associated with the flaring began today at 5 a.m. local
time and lasted for seven hours, the Lyndhurst, U.K.-based company said in the
report to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Ineos was “stabilizing the unit to bring ethylene product back on spec
and decreased feed to the furnaces,” according to the filing.

“Operations are normal at Chocolate Bayou,” Charles Saunders, a company
spokesman based in League City, Texas, said in an e-mail.

The Chocolate Bayou plant includes two olefins units and has one of the
largest hydrocarbon crackers in the U.S., according to the company website. The
plant is about 45 miles (72 kilometers) south of Houston.